


double back at dawn

by coruscantguard (nadiavandyne), nadiavandyne



Series: 2020 Fic Challenges [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Transformation, Commander Fox Week, Coruscant Guard, Fluff, Gen, Painkillers, a two line mention of Kamino & all that dehumanization bs, but really this is just humor and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadiavandyne/pseuds/coruscantguard, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadiavandyne/pseuds/nadiavandyne
Summary: There is a white fox on top of Grizzar."What the kark," Stone says, because kark it, it’s the crack of dawn and he's exhausted. Thisfeelslike a what the kark situation. Hound, on the other hand, shrugs, because Hound is the worst, and also probably got six hours of sleep last night, so he’s physically capable of being in a good mood.The fox has red markings. The fox is asleep. The foxshould not be here.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & CC-5869 | Stone
Series: 2020 Fic Challenges [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810486
Comments: 7
Kudos: 120





	double back at dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline-wise, this takes place when they all have their phase 1 armor, because that's what worked best visually for the story. Anyway, lets hit it.

There is a white fox on top of Grizzar.

"What the kark," Stone says, because kark it, it’s the crack of dawn and he's exhausted. This _feels_ like a what the kark situation. Hound, on the other hand, shrugs, because Hound is the worst, and also probably got six hours of sleep last night, so he’s physically capable of being in a good mood.

The fox has red markings. The fox is asleep. The fox _should not be here_.

"No idea, sir, sorry," Hound says, and he runs a hand through his too-long curls as he looks over to meet Stone's eyes. "Found 'em here this morning when I went to go feed Grizzar."

Stone sighs. "Has Commander Thorn been around yet?" he asks, because Thorn actually likes animals, and is good with them in a way that few brothers are. Stone supposes that lack of skill most brothers have is a product of their childhood, since it's not like they had _pets_ on Kamino. After all, killing machines don’t need to know how to befriend wild animals.

Which, of course, means that even though Stone has seen it happen a million times during the last few months, it’s still damn weird to see Thorn charming every animal in sight. _Brothers_ and _things with fur or scales or claws_ do not go together in his mind.

Still, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. Personal opinions aside, he knows that Grizzar and the other massifs are useful in searches, and since Hound is one his Thorn's men, he usually doesn’t have to deal with them. As long as they all stay out of his goddamn office, he couldn’t care less about members of the Guard having odd friendships with non-sentient beings.

(And yes, Captain Thire, that _does_ include the tooka you're sharing with Senator Chuchi. Go dump it on the Commander if you really must. _No_ , he won't kill you, he's invested too much time into you for that to be a good idea. He’s fine with the tooka, trust me, Captain.)

(Anyway, Stone has seen that goddamn tooka napping in Fox's bunk, and he knows the only way it could've possibly gotten into his private quarters is if Fox let it. So, Fox might complain about it, but Stone is pretty sure he actually _likes_ the furry menace, deep down.)

"No, sir. He’s on a last minute mission for the Chancellor, I believe."

Stone grimaces, and chooses to push that tidbit of information to the back of his mind until later, when he can deal with it. Preferably that later will be _after_ they've managed to get the fox out of the barracks. And hopefully they’ll manage that without bloodshed. "And Commander Fox?"

"I... figured I should just get you, Commander," Hound says, and it’s in a tone of voice that he immediately recognizes as being the tone of voice troopers use when they are purposefully not saying something that’s probably important. 

Stone turns from the fox to stare Hound down, because he's not going to let whatever he wants to hide bite them in the shebs. To his credit, Hound puts up an impressive fight against the stare, not even twitching until Stone ups the ante. And that is impressive, _really_ — both Fox and Thorn would have already caved and admitted what they were hiding. But in their defense, that's absolutely because they don't have the time to waste it standing there as Stone glares. Still, caving is caving, and for a relatively new officer, out performing Commander Stubborn Shabuir and Commander Stubborn Di'kut in _anything_ is a feat. 

"Commander Fox came in here last night, sir," Hound finally says, and his calm expression is completely undermined by the rush of his words. "I had Balac check the security footage— he went into the barracks, but he never came out, and unless he's hiding somewhere around here..." Hound trails off.

"Sergeant Hound, are you implying something?" Stone demands, because kriff no, he refuses to come to this goddamn conclusion on his own. If Hound has a thought he's gonna have to share it.

"Well, this is a Vulptex, sir, and they’re native to the Outer Rim world Crait. Which is, um, not Coruscant. Or even close to Coruscant.” Stone blinks, slowly, deliberately. Hound continues. “They’re nicknamed the crystal fox due to their crystalline bristles, which help them blend in and survive on Crait. But this one wouldn’t survive very long, because it has red markings, which would catch the eye of any predator. I’ve never heard of one having two-toned bristles, I suppose it’s possible, but it’s never been recorded. And...”

“And?”

“It’s red markings that are in the same places that Commander Fox has red on his armor, sir."

"So, Sergeant, what you’re saying is...?"

“I-think-this-could-maybe-be-the-Commander-if-some-weird-Jedi-osik-happened?”

It takes a moment for Stone to decipher what Hound says, but he groans when he does. " _Kark_ ," he says, because that’s... not outside the realm of possibility. He leans in closer, and yep, that is Guardsmen red he's seeing on the fox's chest and shoulders— there are just hints of it, but it's definitely there. "Kark. Any chance it's blood?"

"I haven't gotten close enough to check, sir," Hound admits. "It doesn't look like blood, but I figured I shouldn't risk waking it up until I notified you."

Stone grunts. Smart move. Still, they need their barracks back. "Close the door. I'm gonna check."

"Your funeral sir," Hound says, because again, he's a bastard who works for Thorn, but regardless of his words, he moves to shut it. Stone leans down close enough to the fox to verify that, _no_ , it’s not actually bleeding, _dammit_ , there might be some truth to Hound’s theory after all, and his face is inches away from the fox’s when the fox opens its eyes. 

Stone freezes as the fox makes eye contact with him— it’s eyes are a familiar brown, but he doesn't know what color crystal foxes eyes usually are, so maybe it’s a coincidence— and suddenly, the fox makes a noise that can only be described as a whine, before sitting up quicker than Stone can process and headbutting him.

 _Oh, **kark** you, _Stone doesn’t say, and Hound chokes on a laugh. Stone sighs. The fox glares at him. Finally, he makes himself ask: "Commander Fox?"

In response, the fox tries to headbutt him again. Stone quickly backs out of its line of fire. The disappointed noise the fox makes sounds uncannily human, and Hound makes a noise that sounds a lot like he's trying and failing to strangle his laughter.

Stone sighs again, and takes a quick second to mourn the loss of his dignity, although he hasn't really had any since that mission with Representative Binks. Then, he obligingly sits down on the floor, just out of the Fox’s headbutting range. "Hound, go contact General Vos and tell him we have a situation," he orders, and Fox the fox stretches on Grizzar's back, slow and languid in a way that Fox only is when he’s on a high dosage of painkillers.

“Get Cyclone too,” he amends, because out of all the medics in the Guard, Cyclone undoubtedly is the best to get when dealing with this kind of nonsense. The worst thing they’ll do is delay getting this mess fixed because they keep breaking out into laughter. And dealing with a slight delay is infinitely preferable to dealing with Naia passive aggressively lording this over both Fox’s head and his own until one of them approve whatever vacation she requests, or dealing with Quill ‘accidentally’ letting the story slip to someone in the 212th.

“Yessir,” Hound says, and Stone watches Fox in silence until the moment the door closes again. Then, he sighs. Really, it's a miracle the massiff hasn't woken up yet, but considering how loud Galactic City is, Grizzar has probably learned to sleep through almost everything. Including, apparently, Clone Commanders getting turned into foxes and deciding to nap on his back instead of actually trying to fix the situation.

“Sir, with all due respect— ” He starts, and Fox the fox whips his head around, glaring at him through small, beady eyes. Stone shuts up, and Fox the fox nods in what is probably approval.

They sit there in silence for a few seconds before Fox the fox slowly, carefully, leaps off of Grizzar’s back, and lands on the floor by Stone’s leg. Fox the fox immediately turns back to look at the massif, most likely out of worry that the jump woke him up, but Grizzar slumbers on.

Despite the fact that he’s watching Fox the fox, it still comes as a surprise when he walks forward, and nudges him with his nose.

“Commander Fox?”

The fox glares at him, then does it again. Stone stares at him, uncomprehending, and Fox the fox makes a noise that sounds a lot like an exasperated sigh, before jumping up into his lap, and curling up into a small ball.

Stone stares. Fox the fox hits him in the chest with his tail. Stone stares some more.

 _Kark_. Fox _better_ not court-martial him for this.

Reluctantly, he lowers a hand to the fox’s back, and pets it lightly. Fox the fox purrs, and it’s only years of command training that doesn’t have him stopping out of pure shock. Because since when could foxes _purr_? Since when would _Commander Fox_ be so undignified as to purr?

(Since he was turned into a fox while probably being on heavy painkillers, apparently.)

Stone sighs again, careful not to stop the petting, and Grizzar grunts in his sleep. Kark. _Kark_. Today is going to be a long karking day.

**Author's Note:**

> This has no plot. It is plotless. I hope you enjoyed anyway!
> 
> Written for Day 2 of Commander Fox Week, for the prompt Animal Transformation
> 
> The tooka that Thire is co-parenting with Riyo Chuchi is named Mayday, and she first appeared in my fic [Endless Night, Half a Sliver of Light](/works/24532027). And yes, Thorn is apparently a Disney princess now. At least with animals, lol. 
> 
> Fox is "Commander Stubborn Shabuir/Motherfucker" and Thorn is "Commander Stubborn Di'kut/Idiot". When Thire becomes a Commander, he'll be "Commander Stubborn Mir'sheb/Smartass". Stone truly comes up with the best nicknames.
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr [@coruscantguard!](https://coruscantguard.tumblr.com/)


End file.
